Lecture by Prof. Zhan Cheng：what you need to know about interpreting
On October 18, 2017，Professor Zhan Cheng, Vice Dean of School of Interpreting & Translation Studies and director of MTI Education Center of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, was invited by the School of Foreign Languages of Shenzhen University to give a lecture entitled ""What You Need to Know about Interpreting and Interpreting Training" "at H5-305, Wenke Building. Profound and instructive, spiced with humor, the lecture was deeply appreciated and loved by the Shenzhen University teachers and students who attended the lecture.
The two-hour lecture was an in-depth analysis of interpreting, one of the most popular professions in the 21st century from nine aspects, so that students could keep a clear head for what was needed as an interpreter, thus serving as whips for students to improve themselves in their pursuit of this profession. Intensity, colour, accent, rate and pace were the five dimensions applied by Professor Zhan to differentiate interpreting and translation, revealing the differences between voice and text. It was mentioned that interpreting could be classified into consecutive interpreting, simultaneous interpreting, visual interpreting, and whispered interpreting by the form of communication, and it could also be divided into conference interpreting and liaison interpreting. Meanwhile, interpreting was said to be characterized by time constraints, on-the-site intensity, untraceability, and individual operation. The requirements of interpreting found expression in language, knowledge, culture, skills, psychology, and professional ethics. He said, “Interpreting training is not as easy as any profession in the world, and therefore, it calls for respect and careful consideration before taking up the career.”
In the end, Professor Zhan quoted Nelson Mandela's words in which he said: "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart," which set the audience what interpreting means and requires.
